Our Humanity is Bound up Together

Friends,

I've had this poem brewing in my mind for a while, and finally put it onto paper. I am constantly reminded of Bishop Desmond Tutu's famous quote, and one of my favorites:

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."

As a society, we can only progress so far when some of compatriots are kept so far behind. I don't believe we're rich if 48.1 million citizens live in food-insecure households. I don't believe we're educated if 14% of the American adult population is illiterate. I don't believe we're safe if an average of 86 individuals die each day from gun violence, and mass murders are sprinkled in our news coverage like a sick salt. Mostly, though, I focus on the systematic racism and oppression that is still perpetuated in so many invisible and visible ways in our society. I can't breathe thinking about all these horrific murders. I can't breathe thinking about how my skin color makes me less safe or safer than others. I can't breathe thinking about how so many of my students may meet an untimely end because of the unconscious bigotry of law enforcement.

Human Together

She named her baby Kevlar,

Tried to bless him with protection

But like the cursed Sisyphus,

He flew too close to the sun.

And by flew, I mean walked

Down the street and talked

With his crew… neighborhood kids.

Enemies without a cause.

Did he look suspicious? Did he cross the line?

Or was he committing that inviolable crime

Of being black and walking?

“A child!” she screams, “He was just a child!”

Her baby, her hopes, his life, his dreams

Are bleeding on the sidewalk

Because your hate could not be contained

Because you do not believe your life is secure

Unless his is not.

If you lash a cross into his back,

You don’t get to call yourself religious.

If you put a bullet in his chest,

You don’t get to call yourself righteous.

If you kick him when he’s down,

You don’t get to call yourself my protector.

For I am not safe unless he is safe

I am not moving forward while he is held back

I am not free until he can walk down the street,

Live his dreams, become a man.

I am not free until you put down the damned gun

And say his name.  

~Poonam Desai (10/5/15)

RIP Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Eric Harris, Philip White, Tony Robinson, Jerame Reid, Rumain Brisbon, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Tanisha Anderson, Dante Parker, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, Jr., John Crawford III, Eric Garner, Dantre Hamilton, Trayvon Martin, and to others who lived and died in the world we live in.